Annie

plural Annies · alternative dated Anny

1. A diminutive of the female given name Ann. Also, a popular given name in the 19th century.

   Maxwelton braes are bonnie / Where early fa's the dew; / An' it's there that Annie Laurie / Gi'ed me her promise true.

   c. 1700, William Douglas(?), Annie Laurie

   3 more examples

   I never thought of the most brilliant and elegant women in England quite so charming as she really is, till I heard her call her younger sister "Annie". It seemed to remove at once the almost repellent quality which belongs to extreme polish, - gave a genial warmth to her brightness, became her like a smile. - - - If she had called her sister Anna-Maria according to the register, I should have admired, and feared, and shunned her to my dying day.

   1830, Mary Russell Mitford, Our Village: Fourth Series: Cottage Names

   "I want you to stop calling yourself by that silly name, Annie," Mrs. Marshall-Gill said clearly. "It's inappropriate and ridiculous and I don't like it. It may even be dishonest, I don't know. At any rate, you're to stop it at once. I looked up your registration, and your name is Annie, a solid, Christian name. You'll do well to abide by it." "I don't like Annie," Jewel said. "It suits your face," Mrs. Marshall-Gill said. A titter ran around the listening room.

   1947, Hilda Lawrence, Death of a Doll, pages 39–40

   TAC language program coordinator Annie Reynolds says that palawa kani should not become available to the general public "until aborigines themselves are familiar and competent with it."

   2014 August 13, Adi Robertson, “Can you own a language?”, in The Verge, archived from the original on 05 Apr 2025

2. derogatoryA female orphan.